Have you seen this fascinating website with a whole section called “The Religious Affiliation of Comic Book Characters”? And did you further know that Cypher of the New Mutants is a Mormon? And that it’s apparently all my fault? I have no idea if this is true or not, but it’s pretty cool.

Speaking of Mormon superheroes. I know there’s an active LDS blogging community (Mormons on-line tend to call it–ugh–the “Bloggernacle,” as in “tabernacle”) and, surprise surprise, there’s no shortage of people blogging about comic books, but there doesn’t seem to be much crossover. Or at least, that would explain why I can’t find any discussion of the latest Mormon-themed goings-on in a reasonably popular comic called Madman.

Madman was one of the most successful alternative comics to come out of the 1990s, created by a Portland cartoonist named Mike Allred. Allred is apparently rediscovering his Mormon roots. I remember big headlines in Utah about his now-stalled comic adapation of The Book of Mormon a few years back, but, except on Allred’s own message boards, no one seems too interested in what his flagship character, Madman, has been up to.

Take note, LDS folks and/or comics fans: Madman is apparently Mormon as well. Even back in the ’90s, Madman was being stalked by “the Three Nephites,” which Mormons will recognize as a reference to Book of Mormon-related folk myth. More recently, his archenemy Monstadt tried to corrupt him by paraphrasing dialogue spoken by the Satan character in the LDS temple ceremony. Madman sang the oddball Mormon hymn “If You Could Hie to Kolob” to himself after being blasted into outer space. And in the March issue, Madman even (spoilers!) got married, kneeling at an altar across from his bride, while an alien performed the ceremony. This may be an unusual way for most Earthlings to marry, but it does closely resemble the “sealing” ceremony used to perform marriages in Mormon temples. Um, minus the aliens.

So, if you’re into pop/indie cartoonists and their personal mystico-gnostic brands of Mormonism, this post’s for you! Everyone else probably could have stopped when they saw the phrase “The Religious Affiliation of Comic Book Characters.” Oh yeah, and Superman is Methodist.